1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer readable recording medium, and more specifically to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer readable recording medium which collect apparatus data of an apparatus connected through a network and send the apparatus data to a server apparatus connected through the network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been a system (referred to as “remote monitoring system”, hereinafter) to monitor an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, or a multifunction peripheral set in an office and the like through the Internet by a vendor who is in charge of a maintenance operation, such as the manufacturer of the image forming apparatus. The remote monitoring system is generally formed of an apparatus on a user's side (apparatus data collecting apparatus) for collecting apparatus data from the image forming apparatus, a server apparatus provided on a maintenance person's side, and the like. The apparatus data collecting apparatus transfers the apparatus data through the Internet to the server apparatus. Further, there is another mode in which the image forming apparatus directly transfers the apparatus data to the server apparatus.
Here, the apparatus data, which may be used for billing or include user's personal data or confidential data, are required to be transferred by secure communication. To prevent falsification, spoofing, and the like of the data on the data sending path, mutual authentication and cryptographic communication by SSL (Secure Socket Layer) are performed between a client (the apparatus data collecting apparatus or image forming apparatus) and the server apparatus.
To perform the mutual authentication, the client and the server apparatus are both required to have a secret key. The secret key includes data which cannot be leaked to protect the security of the remote monitoring system. Moreover, it is required that the secret key can be disclosed only to a client authorized by the maintenance person.
In the conventional remote monitoring system, a unique public key certificate and a secret key have been set in each apparatus which is used as a client, when the apparatus is shipped from the factory. That is, for an image forming apparatus as a client, and the apparatus data collecting apparatus as well, an embedded apparatus, in which a unique public key certificate and a secret key are embedded in advance, has been used instead of a general computer such as a PC (Personal Computer).
Therefore, when shipped from the factory, the secret key and the like are required to be recorded in the client so that they cannot be physically removed. In this manner, uniqueness and safety of the secret key have been secured.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-320715
However, a system lacks flexibility if an apparatus functioning as the apparatus data collecting apparatus is limited to the embedded apparatus. In view of this, it is preferable to achieve a function related to the apparatus data collecting apparatus by software that can be installed in a general purpose computer such as a PC (Personal Computer).
When the software is packaged to be distributed through the Internet or stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM to be distributed, the package is formed by copying. Therefore, it is difficult to safely introduce a secret key and the like, which are unique to each package, in a PC in which the software is installed.
Moreover, when the package is distributed through a network, it becomes possible to obtain the package relatively easily even by a malicious person. Therefore, the likelihood of an attack on the server apparatus by using the software may be increased.